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Leon Leroux
In Biggles in Africa, Leon Leroux was a pilot working for Stampoulos et cie, a tobacco company run by a Greek merchant named Stampoulos which was really a front for the growing and smuggling of hashish. Leroux's main job was to generally maintain an air link between the hashish plantation at the remote location of Karuli and the outside world. Besides ferrying people and supplies, he would also use his aircraft, an old French open cockpit biplane, to run loads of hashish. When Leroux crashed his biplane, he was in a quandary but he saw his solution with the arrival of Harry Marton with his De Havilland Puss Moth aircraft at Malakal. Leroux tricked Harry into coming with him to the company landing ground at Insula on the pretext of fetching a sick friend. When Harry got to Insula, Leroux and Luke Sarda, the landing ground caretaker, drugged Marton and seized his Puss Moth. As neither Leroux nor his mechanic Barrail knew how to maintain a Puss Moth and its engine, Leroux was obliged to keep Marton alive as a prisoner at Karuli and force him to act as mechanic. Biggles first met Leroux shortly after arriving at Insula to look for Harry Marton. Leroux had flown into Insula, thinking Biggles and co. were away on a flight. In reality, Biggles had remained on the ground in hiding. He surprised Leroux and Sarda in the act of going through Biggles' belongings and logbook in the rest-house. Somewhat embarrassed, Leroux introduced himself, made his excuses and took off, heading east, giving Biggles the idea that Karuli was to the west. Later, Leroux returned to Insula to steal Biggles' De Havilland Dragon which he flew to a repair depot and then on to Karuli. Unknown to him, Ginger had stowed away on the Dragon and dropped off at the repair depot where he found and took the Puss Moth so that, for a short time at least, Biggles and co. still had a form of transportation. When Leroux later found Sarda dead at Insula, he flew to Malakal to report the killing to Collison, of the King's African Rifles. He then then flew the British officer to Insula to view the "evidence". This resulted in Collison bringing in his Askari troops to seek out and arrest Biggles at Limshoda for the supposed murder. This, in part, led to Leroux's own downfall, as Biggles was able to convince Collison of his side of the story, whereupon Collison travelled with Biggles and co. to Karuli. There Marton was found and freed and the hashish racket exposed. Collison arrested Leroux and Stampoulos and it can be assumed they both ended up with stiff sentences for their crimes. Leroux was described as a short, stout man. When Biggles first met Leroux, he thought he recognised Leroux as one Jean Lazarre, a former pilot with Aeropostale and once reckoned among the best civil pilots in France. Lazarre had then lost his job after being found drunk on duty and thereafter had disappeared from the scene. Whether Leroux was really Lazarre or not was not stated in the book. Category:People Category:Biggles characters Category:Interwar era characters